Gear & Gadgets —

Quick Take: Razer’s Lycosa and Tarantula

Razer sells a range of high-end to midrange gaming peripherals some of you …

Razer's Lycosa is the company's second gaming keyboard, and is currently its less-expensive option. That'll change in the near future, when Razer introduces the budget-minded Arctosa at $49, but for now, Lycosa is the lower-cost option. I've been using a Razer Tarantula for the past six months or so and was curious to see how the Lycosa would match up. There's just $10 between the two SKUs, but the two keyboards are much different than their small price difference implies.

Razer's Lycosa. Not the thin edge and the matte finish on the keys.
The keys themselves are much more visible when the keyboard is backlit.

I've been using a Tarantula as my primary keyboard since March; a brief test drive on Razer's top-end design reduced the chronic pain in my wrists significantly. Up to that point, I always relied on a standard $10-$12 keyboard. A few weeks on Razer's Tarantula, and the improvement in my wrists had hooked me the way no buttons, features, or fancy LED displays could.

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Despite a gap of just $10 in price, the Lycosa isn't just a cheaper Tarantula—it's a distinct design, with its own set of features and capabilities.

Of snakes and spiders

The Lycosa, pictured above, is a low-profile, lightweight keyboard. It's significantly smaller than the Tarantula, at 18.5" long, 6.6" wide, and 0.59" deep with the wrist-rest attached. Despite its svelte profile and trimmed waistline, the Lycosa is not prone to slipping, even during intense gaming sessions. Unlike the Tarantula, the Lycosa is fully backlit, and programmable via Razer's software, though it does lack the Tarantula's dedicated macro buttons. Gamers who don't need or want backlighting can also opt to illuminate just the WASD keys (unfortunately there's no EDSF option). The Lycosa attaches via two USB ports, but mitigates the loss somewhat by including a built-in USB 1.1 hub on the keyboard (one port only). Razer includes a microphone/headphone jack pair on the keyboard, but flaws in both keyboard designs render these two ports effectively useless.

Jump $10 and we have the Tarantula, Lycosa's bigger brother. The Tarantula isn't small, thin, or delicate; the keyboard measures 20.05" wide, 1.3" tall, and 8.67" deep. Unlike most other keyboards, the Tarantula's wrist rest is not detachable; the entire unit is a single piece. The size and width of the wrist rest is actually one reason I like the keyboard, but this isn't a good option for anyone with a small desk or limited space. Features include full anti-ghosting (up to ten keys can be pressed simultaneously), there are a total of 10 macro buttons (five on the left, five on the right), and a set of multimedia buttons are built into the far edges of the keyboard. The small notch in the top-center of the keyboard is technically a feature—Razer calls it the "Battledock—but actual Battledock peripherals are few and far between.

The two keyboards, vertically compared.
The Tarantula's thickness is not an optical illusion.

Like the Lycosa, the Tarantula needs two USB ports to attach to a system, but includes a two-port USB 1.1 hub in the keyboard. Again, a pair of (pointless) audio jacks (headphone-out and microphone-in) are also provided at the top of the keyboard. Unlike many of its competitors the Tarantula does not offer a full backlit keyboard. Only the macro keys, the "Profile" button, and the snake logo at the bottom of the keyboard are actually lit. The logo, meanwhile, can take some getting used to. It doesn't stay lit, but instead cycles between dim and bright. This can occasionally cause your eye to flick downwards as you register the appearance of a blue glow where there wasn't one just seconds earlier.

Differences, strengths, and flaws

The two keyboards have entirely different tactile responses. The Tarantula's keys, in my opinion, are slightly stiffer than the Lycosa's, but are also more responsive. The Lycosa is slightly quieter than its big brother, and definitely more subdued. Typists with a hard touch will likely prefer Tarantula, but Lycosa isn't mushy or squishy by any means.

Part of the reason why the Tarantula feels stiffer has to do with the keys themselves. The Lycosa's keys are relatively wide with a broad taper, thereby increasing the chance that a not-quite-accurate keystroke will land on the correct button. The keys are covered with a matte finish, and appear to have been rubberized. In contrast, the Tarantula's keys are shiny (though not mirrored) hard plastic with a narrow taper. Which you prefer boils down to a matter of taste; the Lycosa is the smaller, quieter, and more portable option, while the Tarantula is larger, louder, and more responsive.

Here's the good news. If you're like me, and you consider the experience of typing on a keyboard to be vastly more important than any other feature, both of the Razer designs deliver in spades. They're different enough that some of you might prefer Tarantula, while others opt for Lycosa, but both are comfortable. Razer's provided macro software works reliably on both, and I've had no trouble configuring macros.

Unfortunately, however, both keyboards are marred by certain flaws. As I've mentioned, the audio in/out jacks on both keyboards are useless, thanks to a huge amount of interference that's transmitted over the lines. Others have speculated that this is because the wiring inside the keyboard is ungrounded or improperly shielded, and while I haven't disassembled either of mine to check, it's as good an explanation as any I've heard. There's no possible way Razer could've missed this, either; the noise is immediate, significant, and ongoing. It's also not system-related; I've checked multiple motherboards and tested both integrated audio and a discrete solution (Creative X-Fi).

The other issue I've had has been unique to the Tarantula, but it's not unique to just my keyboard. Periodically, a key or two on the keyboard will stop responding reliably and require a harder-than-normal hit in order to register a button press. Currently, it's affecting my less than/comma key, but the problem actually migrates around the board. I've had it affect both "j" and "y" before, and I've also had times when it vanished completely. I'm not thrilled about it, but I can live with it, given how well the Tarantula meets my other needs. For the record, yes, I've cleaned the keyboard, both under and inside the buttons. Disassembling the board entirely might yield additional information, but I've not had time to spend on it.

I like both the Tarantula and the Lycosa, but I'm not sure they'd entirely hold their own against a Logitech G11 or G15. With that said, I'd still buy the Tarantula in a heartbeat and my experience with the Lycosa has been quite good.